The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is the title of a topical song by Bob Dylan.

Related Topics:
Topical - Song - Bob Dylan

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Recorded on 23 October 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin' and re-released in 1985 on the compilation album Biograph. Live renditions of the song by its author can be found on the albums Live 1975 (2002) and Live 1964 (2004).

Related Topics:
23 October - 1963 - 1964 - The Times They Are A-Changin' - 1985 - 2002 - 2004

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The ballad gives a generally factual account of the careless killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by the wealthy young William Zantzinger (the song changes his name to "William Zanzinger"), and the lax prosecution as a result of Zantzinger's privileged position: he received only a six-month sentence.

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The actual incident took place February 9, 1963 at a ball at the Emerson Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Dylan's song accurately implies, but never states, that Carroll was black and Zantzinger is white. The song implies that Zantzinger beat Carroll to death with his cane. In fact, he drunkenly assaulted Carroll and several others with the cane; Carroll, who was in poor health, died in hospital the following day, suffering a brain hemorrhage from the stress of Zantzinger's verbal and physical assault, but the cane itself did not leave marks on her body. No autopsy was performed to determine the specific cause of her death.

Related Topics:
February 9 - Baltimore, Maryland

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On August 28, 1963 Zanztinger was convicted of assault and manslaughter and sentenced to a mere six months, which he began serving on September 15. Dylan recorded his song on October 23, when the trial was still relatively fresh news, and it was soon released, on January 13, 1964.

Related Topics:
August 28 - Assault - Manslaughter - September 15 - October 23 - January 13 - 1964

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After the sentence was announced, the New York Herald Tribune conjectured that Zantzinger was not given a longer sentence to keep him out of the state prison, since the notoriety of his crime would make him a marked target among its largely African American inmates.

Related Topics:
New York Herald Tribune - Prison - African American

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Dylan based the sophisticated song structure on Bertolt Brecht's "Pirate Jenny" . Shortly after the Times album was released, he performed it on Steve Allen's network television program.

Related Topics:
Bertolt Brecht's - Steve Allen's

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